Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians

by Austen Hartke

There’s a difference between suffering willingly, like Jesus did, and suffering at the hands of other people without any choice in the matter. Christ accepted our sins. He took them on himself and he suffered because he chose to suffer, whereas so many people now who are dying and being murdered aren’t choosing that. It is thrust upon them.

Eiesland goes on to say that Christians must not only develop theology that includes disabled bodies, but that they must let that theology be created by disabled people themselves. “Such a theology must not be construed as a ‘special-interest’ perspective, but rather an integral part of reflection on Christian life. We must come to see disability neither as a symptom of sin nor an opportunity for virtuous suffering or charitable action. The Christian community as a whole must open itself to the gifts of persons with disabilities, who, like other minority groups, call the church to repentance and transformation.”

Black theologians also have an incredible amount to teach the church about embodied theology—especially in the United States, where Black bodies have been considered inferior and disposable. In a country built on the backs of Black slaves, and in our modern world where Black people are gunned down by police and mysteriously found dead in prison cells, calling Black bodies holy is another necessary and revolutionary act.